Rancho Marino Reserve

Under Construction!

Visit to UC's Kenneth Norris Rancho Marino Reserve, with intertidal visit, Cambria, San Luis Obispo Co., CA, June 3, 2023

Return to Prof. Ee trips or jump to Part 1 (Rancho Marino Reserve) - Part 2 (Same - pelicans & gulls) - Part 3 (N of Cayucos) - Part 4 (N of San Simeon)

After arriving at UC's Rancho Marino ecological reserve, I was able to make it to the beach for the afternoon (quite) high low tide. I spent quite a bit of time watching pelicans and gulls, and my images of those are separated to a separate album linked above.	-	-
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-	-	Limpets are not normally considered destructive grazers but one or more seaweed limpets (Lottia insessa) were likely the reason this 4.3m-long (14-foot-long) feather boa kelp (Egregia menziesii) frond that was freshly washed up on the beach as drift kelp. By grazing along the base of the rachis of this frond seaweed limpets were the likely culprits leading to the detachment of this long frond from the kelp's holdfast.
-	This was another seaweed limpet scar on the same frond, measured about 66 cm (26 inches) from the detachment end.	-
-	-	This was a different smaller entire feather boa kelp (Egregia menziesii) whose holdfast was somehow detached. Note some of the stubby remains of fronds that were likely earlier the victims of seaweed limpet grazing (see above and next images).
-	-	Here is the typical culprit for feather boa kelp frond detachment, and judging from the damage observed here this full-length frond would have likely have soon been detached if the entire kelp had not become detached first.
This impactful grazing seaweed limpet that had substantially weakened the feather boa frond near its base was a mere 12 mm long.	-	-
-	There is one rocky area that is exposed enough close to the cliff that it has mussels and gooseneck barnacles. The gooseneck barnacles, Pollicipes polymerus, were actively feeding. They are passive suspension feeders, depending on the ocean to bring them quite large food items they capture with their cirri in the surge channels they live in. You can see they mostly have their cirri extended, ready for the next wave.	-
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-	Littorina keenae (flat-bottomed periwinkle)	-
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A dead California sea lion on the beach.	-	-
Velella velella (by-the-wind sailor)	Lottia scabra and littorines	-
Dead gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri) that has lost its foot and other soft parts, revealing its eight shell plates that are completely internal in this species.	My attempt at temporary beach drift sculpture.	-
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